When it comes to hospital safety standards, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch continued to set the standard at the Jersey Shore, a hospital watchdog group said in a report released Monday.

Meanwhile, Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel was most improved, three hospitals fell a notch, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Stafford has work to do, the Leapfrog Group survey said.

The group, a coalition of big employers and other health care purchasers, released its bi-annual grades as New Jersey hospitals scramble to keep up with a second wave of the coronavirus — a pandemic that has dominated the health care industry’s daily operations.

The grading system, launched in 2012, is designed to encourage hospitals to cut down on what the group says are preventable mistakes that not only harm patients but also drive up costs.

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The results don’t reflect hospitals’ response to COVID-19, the Leapfrog Group said. But consumers can look at the data to see if their hospitals had fundamental safety practices in place.

New Jersey ranked 17th nationwide in the fall of 2020, with 37.3% of its 67 hospitals receiving A’s.

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Last year, the state ranked 8th nationwide, with nearly 45% of its hospitals receiving A’s.

It isn’t clear where hospitals fell short. The Leapfrog Group’s detailed report wouldn’t be available until Monday.

But New Jersey hospital officials said they were on the frontline of one of the nation’s first hotspots for COVID-19, trying to cope with a once-in-a-century pandemic.

“New Jersey hospitals decreased the mortality rate for hospitalized COVID-19 patients by 75% between April and August,” said Kerry McKean Kelly, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Hospital Association, a trade group.

“They have taken strong actions to keep their patients safe during this pandemic,” she said,  including virus surveillance and screenings, cohorting COVID and non-COVID patients, deep cleaning and disinfecting including use of UV germicidal lights and robotic defoggers, and visitor restrictions to prevent potential for transmission.

Health care observers seemed to recognize that hospitals are under stress trying to keep up with a pandemic that has killed upwards of 16,000 New Jerseyans, including some of their own employees.

Even hospitals with high-quality safety marks are getting hit hard. Ocean Medical Center in Brick, which has received an A in five consecutive Leapfrog surveys, recently was the site of a coronavirus outbreak that forced at least 100 employees to call out from work.

“Every day during this pandemic, we’ve been grateful for our health care workers and inspired by their dedication to high quality care during these incredibly stressful times,” said Linda Schwimmer, president and chief executive officer of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, an advocacy group that partners with the Leapfrog Group.

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“We’re also thankful to health care leaders committed to transparency and to instituting best practices to reduce infections, errors, injuries and accidents,” she said. “They show a commitment to safety throughout their organizations — qualities that we need now more than ever.”

At the Jersey Shore, three hospitals received A’s, five received B’s, and one received a C.

How did your hospital fare?

Bayshore Medical Center, Holmdel

Fall 2020: A

Fall 2019: C

CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township

Fall 2020: B

Fall 2019: B

Community Medical Center, Toms River

Fall 2020: B

Fall 2019: B

Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune

Fall 2020: B

Fall 2019: A

Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch

Fall 2020: A

Fall 2019: A

Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus, Lakewood

Fall 2020: B

Fall 2019: A

Ocean Medical Center, Brick

Fall 2020: A

Fall 2019: A

Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank

Fall 2020: B

Fall 2019: A

Southern Ocean Medical Center, Stafford

Fall 2020: C

Fall 2019: C

Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.